Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest

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Summary: Book with Impact
Review: I read this book years ago, and still find myself thinking about, referring to it, etc. I can't tell you how much of an impact it has had on my thinking. Should be required reading for all med students.

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Summary: Great Book on Shamanism and the Jungle
Review: I read this one recently and I say that without a doubt if you are considering buying a book on shamanism buy this one. It was great, and postive and helpful in the sense that by coming to understand the culture of the indigenous rainforest inhabitants you learn to respect the forest, or la selva, and desire to protect it from modern encroachment. Great book in all respects; exciting, informed, exotic... buy this one.
I recently finished another shamanic book recently which was pretty damn good too -- Memetic Magic, by K Packwood, I think. Takes shamanism to a whole new level check this one out too probably.

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Summary: An excellent look into almost lost cultures
Review: If botony or ethnobotony is your study then this is must read

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Summary: Great book! Read this NOW!
Review: Mark J. Plotkin's great work has really opened my horizons up to realize the plight facing world society. Through demonstrating the vast economic importance of ethnobotanical knowledge to the rest of the world, the reader feels the tragedy of the rain forest being depleted. The world's rain forests are the most complex biomasses on earth, and there are myriads of species of plants that have never before been seen, that could yield potentially useful medicines. The recording and finding of these medicines is found through conversational exchange with tribal peoples, who have evolved their botanical knowledge through thousands of years of trial-and-error. Finding these new medicines is important not only to the current medical sphinxes plaguing society (AIDS, cancer, etc.), but also for the inevitable medical problems we will face in the future. An all-around excellent book! It reads like an adventure novel, and the style of prose is transfixing, and enormously captivating.

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Summary: Fabulous, worldly book!!
Review: Mark Plotkin does a fabulous job of reminding his readers that Western culture is not necessarily a superior culture. Plotkin weaves botany,history, anthropology, and medicine into an exquisite tapestry that gives the reader and understanding of Amerindian culture and the forces affecting the rainforests. If you think ethnobotany would be a boring topic, give this book a chance. You will be thrilled that you did!

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Summary: Brilliant! This book took me into another world...
Review: Mark Plotkin is a natural storyteller who relates a crucial tale with grace, wit and passion. He explains how things work in the rainforest, and why it must be preserved -- both for the sake of the peoples who live there, and for the rest of us. Read this book!!!

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Summary: Good science, good work
Review: Mark Plotkin takes the reader on a journey to the Amazon rainforests of Brazil and Suriname, along the way teaching about rainforest ecology, the medicinal plants and rituals of shamans, indigenous cultures, and his own scientific methods. Although his prose is at times tedious and repetitive, the story itself is a fascinating one, and his determination to give something back to the people of the region is admirable. The story unfolds in a way that allows the reader to understand what is happening to the rainforest both culturally and ecologically, and it offers not merely a criticism of western society but a set of reasonable solutions that could benefit the region, not just ecologically but economically. Plotkin is a responsible researcher whose work should be a model for future ethnobotanists.

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Summary: A Interesting Search for New Medicines
Review: Overall, the book Tales of the Shaman's Apprentice is descriptive and informative. Plotkin does a good job of using descriptive diction to capture the readers attention and provide a mental picture. An example of the descriptive diction and the mental pictures Plotkin paints is when he is walking on the forest floor for the first time and he says "The forest floor was covered with moist, decaying brown and black leaves, and here and there I saw pieces of dead wood, covered with white, wood-rotting fungi. Small and sporadic patches of tiny, feathery selaginella moss made the only greenery; ..." (Plotkin 38). However, his stories lack excitement and any kind of thrill. If the reader is expecting a plot to unfold or a unexpected twist in the story, they should look else where. Plotkin's book is for those mainly interested in the areas of science, the Amazon, shamans, medicine, and native tribes of the Amazon. In any case though, after reading Tales of the Shaman's Apprentice readers will realize that the Amazon rain forest is no longer a "green dungeon to be avoided at all costs" (Plotkin Preface).

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Summary: This was the book that turned me on to Ethnobotany.
Review: Reading this changed my perspective on Western civilization forever. One example is the author's revelation that the indiginous peoples weren't hunter-"gatherers" at all, but rather gardeners of the world's remaining Eden, inheritors of an agricultural tradition far more ancient and advanced than ours. I was stunned by the realization that Western agriculture's monocultures of neat little rows laid out in a landscape of squares is the simplistic imposition of a human order on a far more complex natural order- an order that the Amazonian tribes incorporate in the design of their jungle-garden. A mindblowing paradigm shift awaits you, especially if you bring some knowledge of complex adaptive systems and/or Periodic Equilibrium evolution to this lucid journal. And this amazing personal account is a ripping good yarn. The only thing this book needs is a follow-up epilog, a "where are they now" of the pharmaceuticals, the shamans, the tribes, and the author's efforts to save them from extinction. A warning: Rereading this book in the summer of '98 while watching the rainforests of Indonesia and Mexico burn deeply depressed me. It was like a thousand libraries of Alexandria going up in smoke. Future generations will never forgive us.

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Summary: A must read for anyone concerned with our planet's future.
Review: Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice is a classic scientific adventure story. To my way of thinking, an ideal book educates as it entertains, leaving the reader richer for the experience. This one certainly achieves that as it portrays the hidden riches of the South American rainforests, and the threatened knowledge base of its indigenous peoples. I only hope that its readership will continue to grow, that people will suggest it to national and international politicians, and take its message to heart. As is said on "The X-Files": "The truth is out there." The planet and our health may both be saved if these ideals of ecology and cultural preservation become valued in our collective reasoning.